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Farmers’ share of food prices goes down
Susan Thompson
for Smoky River Express
The cost of food at the grocery store may be getting higher, but farmers aren’t seeing any of the financial benefits from this increase.
Research conducted by Keystone Agricultural Producers of Manitoba (KAP), Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), and Wild Rose Agricultural Producers (WRAP) in Alberta has found that while grocery prices have risen 3.2 per cent in the last year, farmers received 1.7 per cent less money.
The 2008 Farmers’ Share research project found an average of only 27 per cent of the cost of a week’s worth of groceries for a family of four goes back to the farm gate.
The new 2009 study found that depending on the food group, the farmers’ share percentage ranged from 5 per cent for grain products to 50 per cent for milk and alternatives this year.
Fewer processed foods like vegetables got farmers a better return, while the smallest returns came from bread and other grain products.
Menu selections for the studies were based on Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy eating for a family of four consisting of two adults, a teenager, and a child.
The total cost of food purchased in 2009 was $194.23, up from $188.22 in 2008.
Of that $194.23, the consumer paid $6.01 more for groceries, and the middleman received $6.87 more. The farmer who produced the food, however, received $0.86 less.
“Given that Canadian cattle producers are liquidating their herds to survive and that the federal government just announced millions of dollars to restructure the pork sector, it’s a surprise to see an increase in prices yet a decrease in the farmers’ share,” says Humphrey Banack, President of WRAP.
“All the economic dynamics in big cities keep costs up for the middleman and that’s what does it,” says McLennan’s Grant Hicks, who keeps bees and sits on WRAP’s board.
Rising input costs and the use of crops for ethanol are also having an affect on prices.
“It means farmers are getting bigger and trying to run at less cost per acre, to get those economies of scale.”
Smaller farmers, meanwhile, will have a harder time making a living.
“The livestock industry is taking a huge hit due to going green through bio fuels like ethanol, the livestock industry is going to hurt because of this.”
Consumers can help support farmers by pausing to consider the farmers’ share before buying food.
“Patronize farmers’ markets, and u-picks, and buy meat directly from a guy you know isn’t using hormones and things like that,” says Hicks.
“Buy as local as possible.”
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